1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mail boxes. More specifically, the invention is a device which is placed within a pedestal mail box for limiting access to delivered mail.
2. Description of the Related Art
People are often faced with the problem of someone stealing their mail for a variety of reasons. The prior art devices that try to remedy this situation do so by creating deep bins for keeping mail out of reach of potential thieves. In those inventions, the mail is generally retrieved by opening an access panel near the bottom of the mailbox, causing the recipient to have to bend down close to the ground to retrieve his mail. A pedestal mailbox provides some measure of mail theft prevention with a hinged mail slot and a lockable rear access door, but a theif can reach in through the mail slot and steal the mail.
U.S. Pat. No. 308,148 issued on Mar. 27, 1888 to Thompson discloses a mailbox with a supplemental compartment disposed on top of a standard mailbox for receiving large materials such as periodicals and small parcels.
U.S. Pat. No. 481,621 issued on Aug. 30, 1892 to Light discloses a mailbox with multiple receipt compartments and an outgoing mail slot. The box has lockable doors at both ends and there are several slidable drawers which can be removed by post office personnel. There are individual doors on the opposite end corresponding to each drawer which can ve accessed by the individual key holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,626 issued on Feb. 19, 1991 to Berry discloses a mailbox designed for storage of mail in a secure lower portion of the housing. The mailbox has a swingable mail shelf to divide the housing into upper and lower compartments with the mnail shelf being moved from a substantially horizontal mail rest position to a downwardly inclined mail dunpo position. The device in Berry utilizes the deptjh of the mailbox to prevent others from taking mail from the box and can not be susessfully adapted for use with standard mailboxes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,143 issued on Jul. 15, 1986 to Harlow, Jr. et al. discloses a standard mailbox with a slidable tray that can be removed from the mailbox to make mail retrieval easier for the recipient and the postal employee. The patent to Harlow, Jr. et al. coes not disclose any mean of securing the mail within the mailbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,999 issued on Feb. 16, 1988 to Fitzgerald et al. discloses a mailbox with two compartments: an unsecured upper compartment and a secure, locked lower compartment, with a partition there between. The angle that the partition creates is great enough to prevent others from gaining access to the incoming mail. The upper unlocked portion is generally for outgoing correspondence. The patent to Fitzgerald et al. is effective as a security device due only to the depth of the mailbox itself and is not adaptable for use in a conventional mailbox as in the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,883 issued on Oct. 4, 1994 to Pachl discloses a mail access section sufficiently dimensioned for receiving and supporting letters and packages for pickup and delivery. The box is shaped as an upside down L. The mailbox is effective as a security device because of its dimension and is not adaptable for use with a conventional mailbox.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,618 issued on Jun. 29, 1999 to Gaudet discloses a lockable mailbox that is secured inside of a conventional mailbox.
French Patent No. 2,345,973 published in December 1977 discloses a lockable letter box. The letter box in the French patent does not teach the use of the letter box within a standard mailbox.
Other patents which have addressed mailbox security, but are less relevant than the above patents are German Patent No. DE 2,908,073 published on Sep. 4, 1980 and Great Britain Patent No. 1,008,982 published on Nov. 3, 1965.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus an anti-theft mailbox insert solving the aforementioned problems is desired.